


rest

by Areiton



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Afterlife, Gen, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Natasha Romanov Feels, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, the Soul Realm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 05:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18793498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areiton/pseuds/Areiton
Summary: Being dead isn't so bad when the sister of your soul is there with you. Boring, but.Not so bad.Tony and Nat in the afterlife





	rest

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Rest](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18923020) by [FantikBantik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantikBantik/pseuds/FantikBantik)



> I posted on Tumblr last night, so if you follow me there, you might have seen this. If not--enjoy. <3

It hurts, until it doesn't. And there's regret--this burning regret as he watches Peter sobbing, as Rhodey looks at him in horrified silence. 

"You can rest," Pepper promises. 

He does. 

~*~ 

Death is...orange. Orange and foggy and wet, under his bare feet. He wiggles his toes and takes a cautious step forward and it's then that he sees a huddled shape, barely visible through the orange mist but he  _ knows  _ her, and he almost runs. Forces himself to come closer slow and quiet.

She is still, utterly still and looks impossibly small and fragile. 

Natasha Romanov has never looked small or fragile, and it makes him ache, to see her like that. 

So very lonely and afraid.

"Agent Romanov," he says, low and teasing and her head snaps up. Her eyes are wide and scared and filled with tears. "Did you miss me?" he murmurs and she laughs, a choked noise that gets caught in his shirt when she throws herself into him and she's real, a familiar weight in his arms as she cries and he holds her and the orange mist twists around them.  

~*~ 

"What happened?" 

She's laying on her back, her head propped on his thigh, looking at him for answers and he smiles. 

"We did it. We got them back, Nat." 

Her eyes well up and she blinks rapidly, not bothering to wipe away the tear tracks. "All of 'em? Sam, Wanda--the kid?" 

She doesn't ask about Bucky and he  _ knows _ that costs her. "All of them. Everyone, Nat. They're ok." 

He wipes away her tears and says, "It was worth it--what you did. Clint's wife called and they're ok. They're  _ all _ ok." 

She cries then, and he holds her, rocks her like he does Morgan when she's sad. 

~*~ 

It's lonely, being dead. But not as lonely as it could be. He leans against Nat, and smiles. 

Not as lonely as it could be. 

~*~ 

"Why are you here?" 

He doesn't know how long it's been--time is strange here, and he thinks it probably doesn't matter. There is no where else for them, just this forever orange misty place, and each other, echoing back and forth. 

"We got them back--but it wasn't easy," he says, slowly. 

And then he tells her. About the plan going  _ wrong  _ and Thanos arriving, the battle and Pepper and Peter and  _ knowing  _ they would lose again. 

He stares at her, and his eyes sting. "It was the only way," he almost begs and she pulls him close, holds him sheltered against her shoulder as Tony finally cries. 

For the life he got and lost. For the daughter he won't watch grow up. For the son he saved just to leave. For Pepper and Rhodey and Nat and all of them. 

Maybe, just a little, for himself. 

~*~ 

Being dead isn't so bad when the sister of your soul is there with you. Boring, but. 

Not so bad. The little realm of in between the soul stone keeps them in is quiet and peaceful and he listens to Nat spin stories about her childhood and thinks, it's not so bad. 

~*~ 

Sometimes, the mists burns away and he can peer into the reflective surface of the water, touch it and shatter the images into a thousand scenes. 

He watches Morgan in the water, growing up and laughing with Peter, watches Pepper turning to Rhodey, and Rhodey catching her, always. 

He watches with Nat as Clint raises his children and adopts a dog. Watches Peter and his bots, DUM-E eager and sweet and clumsy. He watches the world  _ heal _ and SI found new charities in their name, watches Peter mourn and heal and fall in love and lead the New Avengers. 

He doesn't always watch them, the ones he left behind. But he sees enough. They both do. 

~*~ 

Side by side, they rest. 


End file.
